


for goodness' sake

by wildcard_47



Series: from partridges to pear trees [3]
Category: The Terror (TV 2018), The Terror - Dan Simmons
Genre: Christmas Shopping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 05:49:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildcard_47/pseuds/wildcard_47
Summary: For Day 3 of Carnivale: "naughty or nice." Francis picks out James's Christmas present.





	for goodness' sake

**Author's Note:**

> Posting this one early because I probably won't have internet over the weekend. Enjoy!

Glancing around the garland and ornament-bedecked department store and the flurry of crazed shoppers rushing around in it, Francis sighed out a long breath as he walked to one side of the aisle and consulted his handwritten list again.

James had requested pajamas or some sort of long flannels as part of this year’s Christmas gift, which had tickled Francis speechless at the time. The memory alone threatened to make him chuckle again even now. The man spent half his life glibly tossing off clothes in front of open windows in the middle of the day, or sleeping in the nude for what he had once grumped were  _ very important reasons, Francis, _ and suddenly here he was requesting cozy nightwear.

Thank God pajamas were easy enough to buy, at least. And Francis probably wouldn’t get murdered by some other desperate husband over a pair of men’s flannels, so there was a second bonus.

He ambled toward the center of the store until he found the men’s department; from there it was only a short step to pajamas and sleepwear. Only problem was that as Francis looked around, he noticed most of these pajamas were… well… not suited to James’s tastes at all.

Francis kept seeing plenty of options he might have picked out for himself, if their roles were reversed, but James would probably rather run screaming into the cold than wear something too plain, or something printed with ugly cartoons.

And then he saw it, hanging on a sale rack stuffed to the gills with unfortunate holiday sweaters: an enormous, wonderously furry polar bear onesie in what appeared to be a man’s size, complete with bulky paws, soft black claws, and ridiculously large round ears. It would make James look like a giant Japanese manga come to life.

“Christ, I hope that’ll fit,” he actually said aloud, startling some woman shopping next to him and not caring one whit. If his husband wanted something warm for the holiday, then by God, Francis would buy him the warmest pair of pajamas in the entire damned place. He'd also get to enjoy the stunned look on James's face after he opened the nondescript box. That by itself would be well worth the purchase price.

Thankfully, the onesie seemed like it would fit, as it was the last extra large of the lot. 

And – because Francis was not a complete arsehole, and could also be a nice husband some of the time – he also tossed a pair of red long johns and a set of blue plaid pajamas over his arm before going back to the register.


End file.
